Exposure+6 Exhibition

I heard that one of my friend was organising an exhibition at the new Nikon Centre opposite Low Yat Plaza starting last weekend. I got curious and decided to have a look. I was in clinic during the opening event, so I made do with a quiet visit.

It was Monday but it was a public holiday for Thaipusam. The town was rather quiet despite the gorgeous sunny weather. The Nikon Centre itself was quiet when I entered, allowing me to have a look in peace.

The exhibit featured four photographers who mainly do the bulk of their work locally. Despite the venue, I doubt that all of them used Nikon.

The place itself was small but cosy. None of the staffs there bothered me when I walked by, especially since I had with me a camera - which was not a Nikon. The theme appeared open. But a couple of the exhibits worth commenting on. The first was a series by Wang Seok Mui. He was a third generation Chinese Malaysian and he along with cousins went to China in search of his ancestral village and the series of photos documented the journey. I felt that the narrative was still unfinished and it was something worth pursuing. The photos were simple but atmospheric, richly printed. Personally, it would have been better if the story was told in a more elaborate series of photos. Maybe in the years to come, there would be a closure to the storyline.

The second one was on the work by Fitri Jalil. He tried to explore the meaning and ultimately the distinction between being a Malay and Moslem in contemporary Malaysia.He had some good points but with only less than 10 prints on display, many "reading between the lines" were needed. He stopped short of going into the current elements of Arabinisation which seemed to be the rage nowadays.

On the whole, it was too short although sweet. Nothing earth shattering although the appeared to be more organised that the recent Guerrilla Exhibition at Avenue K. Would definitely be keen to see what Exposure+7 had to offer.

Wayang Kulit at Bangsar Village

It was Halloween. Saturday it was and I spent the afternoon with Anita looking for some snacks in the afternoon. I was on call a couple of days earlier and I thought that it was a good way to unwind. There were plenty of kids and their parents roaming around Bangsar VIllage, looking for chocolates. Our boys were just not into that, they would rather stay at home.

"Hulubalang Empayar"While Anita was doing some groceries, something caught my eyes. There was a small exhibition going on, and I thought what was on show was somewhat different. It was "wayang kulit" or shadow dance, but with a twist! It was about Star Wars rather than your typical old legend like what was usually told by those puppets.

It was a great initiative and it would run for another week. The one which caught my eyes were on Princess Leia and the Stormtroopers. Not much of a narrative I was afraid. Maybe there would be a session when they would do all that. But I still thought it was well worth a visit.

Obi Wan vs Vader"Tuan Puteri Leia"

Venue? Ground Floor Bangsar Village. But it would not last for too long though ....

Guerilla Photography Exhibition

After some issues with last year's edition, the Guerilla Photography Exhibition returned to Avenue K. It was on for a couple of weeks and would run for until this coming weekend. I had the opportunity to visit last Wednesday - it was Awal Muharram then.

Located on the third floor of the newly refurbished Avenue K, the place was quite tricky to find. Reading the Facebook postings on the event, I was expecting a big show. It turned out to be on a much smaller scale than I anticipated.

The show occupied the steps of a pavilion they had there - called the Spanish Steps. The photos were stuck on the the steps forming a cascade upwards. The content was fine but the curation I found problematic. It appeared to be a mishmash of photographers who just landed there and decided to stick their photos. SOme of them clearly with themes - angles of building corners, their cats etc - while others just put up a selection of their favourite snaps, with no back story to capture my attention. I could fine those on some Flickr feed if I wanted to.

And then came the actual printing. Again, there were a lack of standardisation. Some of the prints were excellent with great contrasts and vivid colours. Unfortunately that was not universal. I must say that one could come up with similar prints from their home printers. The size of the prints were also problematic. A3 seemed to be the biggest, if not A2 with a fat frame! The selection lacked punch.

There is a theme here ...And then there was one particular print which I found inappropriate. A photo of an Arabic phrase which is holy amongst Moslem, stuck to its spot at foot level ... an oversight from the organiser if I may say so personally.

I have to point out that putting this print at ankle level is a tad ..... inappropriate ...I support the effort but I felt for the exhibition to have any sort of impact in the future, it would need some serious thinking behind it. And this is sad since I knew some of the people organising the event. I wanted this exhibition to go on, but we need to get it done with a purpose! The venue was OK but maybe it needed better publicity as finding the place could be tricky! Good luck guys!

Slidevideo for the Lagi-Lagi Gila-Gila Exhibit

The main write-ups were down in two parts, here and here.

Avengers are Back

Age of Ultron would be the next instalment of the Avengers series. And it was coming out in a couple of weeks. Looks like the media hype was at full swing.

There was plenty of adverts going out on billboard, but the most cheesy one was definitely the exhibits and memorabilia at Mid Valley Megamall.

There was plenty of merchandise as well as games, all for good fun. Apart from giant replicas of Hulk and Ironman, nothing really caught my fancy. They only had a small Loki doll on show. If Tom Hiddleston were to make an appearance, then that would be something else. I would queue for that...

Even Idlan didn't find the exhibits to be that interesting. But he was looking forward to watch the movie. So, I guessed mission accomplished as far as the organisers were concerned. ‎